1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a power distribution system and, more particularly, to a power distribution system using multiple rechargeable power sources and a method for distributing power using multiple rechargeable power sources.
2. Description of the Related Art
The demand for petrochemical energy increases with the degree of global industrialization. However, the outcome of overexploiting petrochemical energy will exhaust petroleum reserves sooner or later. Hence, seeking alternative energy becomes a direct concern to mitigate the issue of oil storage shortage arising from the overexploitation. The available alternative energy includes nuclear, solar, wind, tidal, geothermal and hydrogen energy.
As alternative energy brings forth convenience and benefits, the government of every country encourages corporate firms and home owners for choices of alternative energy, not only saving the cost of their electricity bills but also lowering the load on power plants. Generally, multiple solar photovoltaic (PV) modules are installed for power generation and may include one primary solar PV module and a secondary solar PV module. When supplying power, the primary solar PV module is given with the highest priority in supplying power first. The secondary solar PV module will not supply power until the primary solar PV module uses up its power. Such way of power supply ends up with less operational flexibility to the solar PV modules and shorter life duration of the primary solar PV module.
Current hybrid electric cars are usually equipped with two electric power sources, one of which is a rechargeable battery selected from a nickel metal hydride battery or a lithium ion battery, and the other electric power source is either the alternator driven by the engine or a fuel cell. During operation, one of the electric power sources is selected as a primary electric power source based on operational conditions. For example, when the hybrid electric car is driven at a low speed (e.g. below 40 km/hr), the rechargeable battery is chosen as the primary electric power source to drive the vehicle, and when driven at a high speed (e.g. above 40 km/hr), the engine or the fuel cell is chosen as the power source to drive the vehicle. As far as the choices of electric power sources are concerned, such arrangement is very inflexible. Besides, the primary electric power source selected at the discretion of vehicle speed may result in single electric power source in use for power supply, which is prone to damage and deterioration thereto and a low power supply efficiency.